Does a royal flush beat four of a kind?
Yes. A royal flush beats four of a kind in poker — every time. In the ranking of 10 hand categories, royal flush is #1 and four of a kind is #3. Categories are compared first: the royal flush is the single best hand in poker — nothing beats it, and every four of a kind loses to it.
A-K-Q-J-10, all one suit. The unbeatable hand.
Four cards of the same rank ("quads").
How rare is each hand?
Rarity is exactly why the order is what it is. Out of 2,598,960 possible five-card hands, a royal flush shows up in 0.000154% of them (4 combinations), while four of a kind appears in 0.024% (624 combinations). The harder a hand is to make, the higher it ranks.
Does four of a kind ever beat a royal flush?
No — never. The category comparison is absolute: the highest possible four of a kind still loses to the lowest possible royal flush. Ranks inside a category only matter when both players hold the same category.
Prove it to yourself
Which hand wins? Tap it.